


This Is Our New Forever

by A_God_A_Vampire_And_Two_Heirs_Of_Durin



Series: Will We Be Stuck Like This Forever? [4]
Category: Being Human (UK), The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 09:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2019324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_God_A_Vampire_And_Two_Heirs_Of_Durin/pseuds/A_God_A_Vampire_And_Two_Heirs_Of_Durin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the Johnsons can’t exactly be blamed for their curiousness when Anders arrives home from Europe with a six foot tall Irishman in tow and no explanation whatsoever.</p>
<p>At least Dawn’s just happy that Anders has gone back to work with a smile on his face and a rare form of enthusiasm for his job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Is Our New Forever

**Author's Note:**

> This is for everyone who requested a sequel to One More Time in Forever - and I'm probably going to also do a sequel to this one as well involving several familiar, but rather unwelcome, faces.
> 
> This is, in a way, a little more upbeat than some of the other stories in this verse because Anders and Mitchell are starting again in Auckland and Mitchell is being extremely hopeful about their new beginning.

Somehow, three weeks later finds Mitchell and Anders settling down together to their newly adjusted lives in Auckland. Mitchell still isn’t sure how he managed to convince Annie and George not to follow him halfway across the world in their panic that he was effectively moving in with a man they thought he’d met just a few days previously.

“Dawn was especially pleased to see that I’d returned to work in good spirits,” Anders declares as he throws himself down onto the sofa with an open bottle of beer. “In fact, she was so pleased that she brought me lunch without me even asking her to.”

“Well, I’m glad to see that I have some uses,” Mitchell says, picking up an identical beer bottle himself and leaning against the side of the kitchen work surface.

“You have plenty of uses,” Anders retorts, “I just don’t like sharing your uses.”

The vampire chuckles in return.

“Good, because I’m not exactly keen on sharing you,” he says, “I’ve waited over a hundred years for this and I don’t want it getting messed up.”

“No one said anything about messing up,” Anders replies dismissively, “Though I’ve managed to do a fair bit of it in my life.”

“Me too,” Mitchell nods, “Me too.”

“How about we try and forget our pasts?” the blond turns to him suddenly, and he has to restrain the urge to laugh, because that’s really all they have to hold onto; the past tells them who they are as people, and the future is far too uncertain for him. “I’m pretty sure that you’re the one who wanted to make this work this time around.”

“That’s a little bit easier said than done,” he points out, “I can’t just pretend that I haven’t killed hundreds and hundreds of people over my lifetime. I still see their faces sometimes, in my head.”

Anders makes an understanding noise.

“I can hear Mike in my head sometimes,” he says, “Every time I go to do something that he wouldn’t approve I can just hear him having a go at me. I can picture his reaction if he were here now, which reminds me, you’re not meeting my family anytime soon.”

Mitchell shrugs.

“Suits me,” he says, “I’d rather just lie low.”

Anders expression suddenly changes into one of remembrance.

“Speaking of lying low,” he says, “How did your job hunting go?”

“Wonderfully, actually!” Mitchell’s face lights up, “The hospital were happy enough to take on another cleaner so I’m starting my first shift on Monday.”

Anders grimaces a little at that, much to Mitchell’s annoyance; they’ve had this conversation before.

“A cleaner? Really, Mitchell? We both know that you could do far more than that, you’re cleverer than you think you are.”

“It’s not a matter of intelligence, it’s a matter of not being seen or noticed. Come on, Anders, we were just talking about lying low.”

Anders takes a long drink from his beer rather thoughtfully, Mitchell waiting for his reaction, and eventually the blond man just throws him a suggestive grin.

“Is the uniform hot?”

And Mitchell just rolls his eyes fondly.

* * *

It turns out that the hospital is not exactly the best place for lying low in the end. It’s Mitchell’s first shift and for some rather unbeknown reason, Anders has taken it upon himself to see him off personally, not from the door of the apartment, but from the hospital car park instead.

“I’m not coming inside,” the blond god stipulates firmly, “I hate hospitals, but I’ll see you to the door.”

“I don’t need to be escorted,” Mitchell protests, “I could actually just walk from the apartment.”

But Anders will not take no for an answer, and early Monday afternoon sees the two of them pull up outside of the main hospital reception; Mitchell had wanted a later shift, preferably some time into the night, but apparently the hospital would only start him on the day shift, so he’d have to make do.

“You can’t stop here,” the vampire points out, “This isn’t a parking space.”

Anders shrugs.

“I’m not staying,” he replies, “If you hurry up, then it’ll be fine. Anyway, I could talk my way quite happily out of any situation.”

“Of course you can,” Mitchell mutters, leaning over the gear stick to give the blond a quick kiss. “See you later.”

“See you at seven, right?” Anders checks, and the other man nods.

They lean in for one more kiss, and then Mitchell jumps out of the car and hurries away to the entrance, waving goodbye quickly before he’s gone. Anders turns the car around and drives back to his office, where Dawn will not be happy if he’s late back from lunch again.

And it manages to completely slip his mind that while Mitchell may be trying to blend in with the crowd at the hospital, there’s one particular goddess who already works there and is perfectly capable of seeking him out.

* * *

Anders has just thrown some sort of pre-made meal into the oven when his phone rings; he’s not sure what he’s actually cooking but Mitchell seemed to think that it’ll taste good and he’d left a note behind with instructions on it. He reaches for his phone as it continues to ring incessantly, and notices with a loud groan that it’s Mike calling. He’s slightly bored so he answers, figuring that if anything, his abilities to annoy his older brother might entertain him a little.

“Mike!” he speaks into the phone, making sure to sound especially cheerful and put the man on the other end on his guard. “What can I do for you?”

There’s an audible sigh at the other end.

“Well, to start with, I’d like to know why you’ve been back in the country for nearly two weeks and you still haven’t contacted any of us,” Mike says.

“I don’t report my every move to you,” Anders interrupts quickly, “What exactly were you expecting me to call and say?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Anders, maybe something about your new friend that you seem to have brought home with you,” Mike’s tone gives away his displeasure about not being kept in the loop immediately. “Michele says that he’s Irish and you dropped him off at work this morning.”

Anders groans loudly. Michele, of course, how could he have forgotten?

“Alright, so I have a new friend,” he concedes, “I am allowed to have friends, right, Mike? Or is there now a god-rule or something against it?”

“Look, Anders,” Mike spoke finally, “Just be at the bar at eight and bring your friend.”

“Do you want to interrogate him or something?” Anders asks accusingly, but his brother has already hung up. How surprising.

He’s not sure how long he stands there for, but the next thing he knows, Mitchell’s arms are wrapped around his waist and the vampire’s chin is resting on his shoulders.

“Babe,” Mitchell says softly, “I think dinner’s been ready for a while now.”

The blond god jumps a little, and realises rather sheepishly that the oven timer is beeping insistently and it’s quite possible that their food is entirely burnt; in which case, they will be having takeaway. Again.

Fortunately, whatever it is that Mitchell has chosen for them has managed to survive the excessive overcooking and still looks edible. Anders just hopes that it also tastes good, because otherwise his evening will become even more frustrating.

“So, is there any reason why you felt the need to ignore the oven?” Mitchell asks as they sit down with the food on their laps in front of the television. “You were literally centimetres away from it, it’s not like it would have been a great amount of effort for you to lean over and open the door.”

“I got a phone call from my brother,” Anders answers.

The vampire makes a sympathetic noise at the other man’s annoyed tone of voice.

“Which one?”

“Mike.”

Mitchell’s noise of sympathy is repeated even louder this time.

“Did he phone for a reason? Or did he just want a chat?”

Anders scoffs.

“Like he’s ever phoned for a chat. No, Michele’s been reporting back to him that she saw you and me together this morning and that you’re now working at the hospital.”

“Who’s Michele?”

“His girlfriend. And she works at the hospital, I may have forgotten that after we celebrated your new job.” The wink he throws at the vampire sends any attempt at a sincere apology for the lack of warning out of the window.

Mitchell chuckles a little, which makes Anders frown in confusion at him.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, sounding rather defensive, as though the other man might be laughing at him.

“Nothing really,” the vampire shrugs, “It’s just that if your brother’s girlfriend works at the hospital, then it probably explains why I was convinced that one of the doctors was following me all afternoon.”

“Sounds about right,” Anders says, “But the only information she managed to impart to Mike was that you’re a friend of mine and that you’re Irish.”

Mitchell raises an eyebrow at that.

“Well, with those sorts of investigation skills, why doesn’t she join the police?” he laughs a little jokingly before grimacing. “Actually not the police,” he corrects, “I’m not particularly fond of policemen.”

“Odd thing not to be fond of, I suppose,” Anders says, “Unless you’re a criminal. Which you’re not, are you?”

“Not in the conventional terms, I guess,” Mitchell replies, “I just have bad memories of one policeman especially.” He shakes his head. “Never mind, what did Mike have to say about you and me then?”

“Not much, just that we’ve got to be at his bar by eight because he wants to meet you.”

“I thought you said that I wasn’t going to meet any of your family.”

“You’re not.”

“But they want to meet me.”

“Not because they want to welcome you to the family, Mitchell, because they want to find out whether you pose a threat or not.”

“And do I?”

“Do you plan to drink my blood?”

“No. I told you not to joke about that.”

“I’m not joking, it was a valid question. Hey, where are you going?”

“It’s eight already, we’re late for this meeting with your brothers,” Mitchell points out, standing up from the sofa and reaching for his jacket which he had thrown across a nearby chair earlier.

“So? I said that you’re not meeting them.”

“They’ll probably just come round here and I’ll have to deal with your brother’s girlfriend tomorrow at work, because I’m sure that she’ll have something to say.”

“If we’re having a repeat of celebrating your new job then we don’t have to let them in.”

Mitchell sighs heavily, trying to ignore the rather suggestive way that the blond god is looking at him over the arm of the sofa.

“One, Anders, I’m pretty sure that you mentioned a time that your younger brother broke the door down to your apartment when you weren’t there to let him in, so ignoring the door is not an option. And two, if you don’t drive us to your brother’s bar, then you can forget about a repeat performance for about the next week.”

The blond god pouts for a few moments at that, debating whether or not Mitchell’s threat is empty or not. Upon deciding that it’s not, the two of them are on their way to Mike’s within five minutes.

* * *

Judging by the cars parked outside, Mike has invited the entire family and they’re probably all sitting inside now, discussing Anders and Mitchell over beer. Anders most definitely does not want to get out of the car and face them, but Mitchell reminds him of what will happen if he turns the car around and goes home, so he has no choice but to follow the vampire up to the door.

The sound of them entering has everyone turning around to stare in anticipation, and Anders’ thinking turns out to have been correct, all of the other Johnsons are there, as well as Michele, who is leaning against the bar as though she isn’t the one who caused this entire meeting.

Mitchell, who isn’t entirely fond of being stared at, opens his mouth to break the ice and says that first thing that enters his head.

“So, you’re all gods, right?”

Anders rolls his eyes and shoots a quick glare at the vampire, which makes him realise that maybe he should have kept quiet, while the atmosphere becomes even more tense; well, until Mike decides to speak.

“Well done, Anders,” he says dryly, “You managed to break the first rule: don’t involve mortals in god business.”

Anders and Mitchell share a look before Mitchell nods slightly. He supposes that they’d better get this over and done with as quick as possible, and if he knows that they’re gods, then they should probably know his secret too.

And that’s when it hits him. This might actually be the first time that he’s met any of Anders’ family. Sure, the blond has had a number of different families over the centuries, but this is the first time that he’s properly met any of them. There was a sort of grey area in the 16th century where he met Anders’ father, but that wasn’t under the best circumstances and he really hopes that this meeting does not go the same way, otherwise he can most definitely say goodbye to his hopes of finally getting one up on Fate.

“I’ll have a beer, Mike,” Anders is saying, “And so will Mitchell. Oh, by the way, everyone, this is Mitchell. Mitchell, I’ll introduce everyone else when I’ve had some alcohol.”

Grudgingly, Mike hands over two beers.

“Alright,” Anders begins, “Mitchell, meet Mike, Michele, Ty, Axl and Olaf. There’s more goddesses somewhere, just be glad that you don’t have to meet them yet.”

“Anders, you still haven’t…” Mike starts to say, but the blond interrupts him.

“That’s what the beers are for, Mike,” he says, as though it’s the simplest thing in the world, “To celebrate the fact that for once I didn’t break any of your stupid rules. I’m not involving any mortals by telling Mitchell, because he’s not one. See, problem solved.”

“No, problem not solved,” Mike replies, “What is he then? Another god?”

Anders smirks a little, takes a sip from his beer and looks especially smug.

“No, he’s a vampire.” His smirk widens. “My boyfriend’s a vampire. Wow, out loud that sounds far too much like the plot of a film, maybe I won’t say that again.”

The bar then erupts into simultaneous cries of “He’s a vampire?” from Axl and Mike, and “He’s your boyfriend?” from Ty and Olaf. Michele just watches from her position on the other side of the bar, the whole boyfriend aspect doesn’t surprise her one bit, but the vampire thing is new, and rather interesting.

“Anders, did Europe do something to your?” Axl’s still bemused, “You do realise that vampires aren’t actually real, don’t you?”

“Of course, Axl,” Anders turns to his youngest brother and fixes him with a tired look, “And reincarnated Norse gods aren’t real either.”

“I think I preferred it when I thought he was a mortal,” Mike says, “How do you know he isn’t dangerous?”

Mitchell gives an awkward sort of cough.

“I’m right here, you know. You can actually address me, contrary to what you clearly think, I don’t want to kill any of you.”

“And Mitchell isn’t going to hurt anyone,” Anders quickly jumps in, and nearly all of the Johnsons suddenly take note of how defensive the blond sounds where the vampire is concerned.

“And how do you know that?” Ty speaks up, “Anders, you’re a good judge of character, usually, but you met Mitchell just a few weeks ago.”

“We go back a long way,” the blond god smiles, “It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand. Olaf’s the only one who might get it just a little bit, but I doubt it.”

The oracle shakes his head and downs what can be safely said is not his first beer.

“Nope, haven’t got a clue. Though maybe I did have a vision about this happening, a few days ago I think. There was a…”

His silence seems to indicate that he needs prompting, or more likely than not, he hasn’t seen anything, and therefore there is nothing for him to try and remember.

“You didn’t see anything, did you?” Mike asks, before Olaf shakes his head.

“Probably not, don’t know why I thought I did.”

And with that, he decides that maybe it’s time for another drink.

“Right, now that you’ve all met Mitchell, I think it’s time that we left,” he grins at his family, “Mitchell owes me several rounds of mind-blowing…”

“Thank you, Anders!” Ty’s annoyed interruption puts a swift end to that sentence. “We don’t need to know.”

“Are you sure?” It was Michele who spoke this time. “I think it could be quite interesting.”

“Maybe next time,” Anders says, winking as he drags a rather startled Mitchell outside, letting the door slam loudly behind them. “Right, let’s go home.”

* * *

“I’m sorry you had to endure that,” Anders says softly.

They’re both lying on the sofa, the blond’s head on Mitchell’s chest, still finding the lack of a regular heartbeat a little unnerving, having not made it to the bedroom, instead falling onto the sofa fully clothed.

“It’s alright,” the vampire soothes, “I’ve experienced much worse; we both have. Anyway, they don’t seem that bad.”

Anders sighs heavily.

“They’re not, I guess,” he says, “I mean, they were on their best behaviour today, and I should be able to deal with them when they’re at their worst, I am an adult. Maybe it’s just too much to ask them to appreciate me and not judge me in everything I do. I mean, I know I’ve done stuff in the past which didn’t exactly put me in the best light in their eyes, and I always go about things the wrong way, even with the best intentions, but they don’t understand that. All they see and hear is that Anders did this, Anders did that, but they never ask why. They think I do it to act out to humiliate them, that I act out because I’m just a morally bad person, and I’m not John. I’ve already told you some of it, back in Bristol, the night I found you. I think I just want attention, I want someone to notice what I’m doing because for most of my life, no one even saw me or cared that I was there.”

Mitchell just lets him talk, he knows that the blond needs to let this all out.

“I can give you attention, Anders,” he promises, “I can give you all the love and attention you need, forever.”

“Forever?”

“Yeah, this is our chance to cheat Fate, remember? This time we’re going to fight, and keep fighting, and then we’re going to win our share of forever, right?”

Then, with a contented sigh, Anders speaks thirteen words which he will always deny having said, and put down to being half-asleep because there’s no way that he gets that emotional over this sort of thing:

“I’m pretty sure that just by having you here, I’ve got my forever.”

And Mitchell knows that every word is true. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still happy to accept any prompts for this verse :)


End file.
